STATE
v.
CITY OF MIAMI

Fla. | 1940-03-19
Bufokd and Thomas, J. J., concur., Whitfield, P. J., concurs in opinion and judgment., Justices Brown and Chapman not participating as authorized by Section 4687, Compiled General Laws of 1927, and Rule 21-A of the Rules of this Court.
142 Fla. 284 Florida Supreme Court (1940) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 194 So. 792
Cited by 5 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court upheld the validity of Miami's refunding bonds issued under Resolution 15996, rejecting challenges to the city's authority to refund $27.76 million in bonds and addressing constitutional concerns regarding territorial jurisdiction and bond timing.


Holding

Chapter 15686 provided sufficient authority for the refunding. Resolution 15996 properly addressed tax liability for detached and annexed territory. Selling refunding bonds at a discount without increasing bonded indebtedness does not violate the Constitution. The 60-day lapse between redemption and issuance did not result in both bond sets being outstanding simultaneously in violation of the Constitution.


Key Quotes

“Chapter 15686 is a special Act applicable to the City of Miami and is the controlling law on the subject.”

Establishes the statutory authority for the refunding bonds

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

In February 1940, the City of Miami adopted Resolution 15996 to refund three series of bonds totaling approximately $27.76 million. The resolution add…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
Terrell, C. J.

Terrell, C. J.

February, 1940, the City of Miami adopted Resolution 15996 for the purpose of refunding the following bonds: $27,372,000 Refunding Bonds of 1940, Series GM; $392,000 Refunding Bonds of 1940, Series EH, and $396,000 Refunding Bonds of 1940, Series OM. This appeal is from a final decree validating the refunding bonds as authorized by said resolution.

The first question we are called on to answer is whether or not Chapter 15686, Acts of 1931, is sufficient authority to support the resolution and to refund the bonds as proposed.

This question must be answered in the affirmative. Chapter 15686 is a special Act applicable to the City of Miami and is the controlling law on the subject. All the *286indebtedness represented by the refunding bonds was incurred prior to June 24, 1931, the effective date of Chapter 15686, though some of tire legal evidence of that indebtedness is in bonds issued subsequent to the latter Act. State v. City of Miami, 116 Fla. 517, 157 So. 13, supports this conclusion but even if there was doubt on this point, the general refunding Act, Chapter 15772, Acts of 1931, would warrant the refund.

The second question with which we are confronted is whether or not Resolution 15996 is sufficient with reference to taxes on property detached from the City in 1931, and does it sufficiently show that territory annexed to the City of Miami, in 1937, is subject to taxation for payment of the refunding bonds in like manner as territory originally in the city.

This question is concluded in the affirmative by the following decisions of this Court: State v. City of Miami, 103 Fla. 54, 137 So. 261; State v. City of Miami, 116 Fla. 517, 157 So. 13; Folks and State v. Marion County, 121 Fla. 17, 163 So. 925; State v. City of Orlando, 126 Fla. 251, 170 So. 887; State v. City of Lakeland, 132 Fla. 489, 180 So. 754.

The form of the proposed refunding bonds prescribed in Resolution 15996 has been examined and found to contain proper and sufficient recitals as to both tire detached territory and as to the liability of all territory within the City for taxation to pay said proposed refunding bonds with interest.

The provisions of Resolution 15996 for the creation of reserves to pay the proposed refunding bonds do not increase the burden of taxation or pledge any new or additional revenues in payment of the refunding bonds or interest thereon. The purpose of these provisions is to make the *287refunding bonds more attractive to investors and to decrease the burden of the taxpayers. Somewhat similar provisions were approved in State v. City of Miami, supra.

The next question presented is whether or not there is any constitutional objection to selling the refunding bonds at a discount in the manner provided by Chapter 15686, Acts of 1931, so long as there is no increase in the bonded indebtedness of the City.

Chapter 15686 in terms authorizes the sale of refunding bonds at a discount and the record discloses that the salé proposed will result in a saving of more than seven million dollars to the City. Under the facts in this case, we find no constitutional inhibition to such a sale. Sullivan v. City of Miami, 101 Fla. 298, 134 So. 211.

The concluding question may be stated as follows: Where Resolution 15996 and other facts show that there will be a lapse of approximately sixty days between the redemption date of the outstanding bonds and the issue of the refunding bonds can both sets of bonds be said to be outstanding at the same time in violation of the Constitution ?

Resolution 15996 appears to have been carefully cast with a view of calling the old bonds and issuing the refunding bonds to take their place. There must be a brief allowance for play in chronology in cases like this but here it is not shown that both sets of bonds would be outstanding at one and the same time in violation of the Constitution. This question appears to be concluded against appellant by Fleeman v. City of Jacksonville, 140 Fla. 478, 191 So. 840.

The judgment of the circuit court was free from error and is affirmed.

Affirmed.

*288Bufokd and Thomas, J. J., concur.

Whitfield, P. J., concurs in opinion and judgment.

Justices Brown and Chapman not participating as authorized by Section 4687, Compiled General Laws of 1927, and Rule 21-A of the Rules of this Court.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • State v. City of New Smyrna Beach, 148 Fla. 482 (Fla. 1941)
    …ng bonds. State v. City of Sanford, 128 Fla. 171, 174 So. 339; State v. City of Bartow, 147 Fla. 67, 2 So. (2nd) 125. Under these circumstances it was not essential that the issue of the latter be approved by the freeholders. State v. City of Miami, 142 Fla. 284, 194 So. 792; State v. City of Fort Myers, 145 Fla. 135, 198 So. 814. It is next contended that the pledge of $20,000 annually of the net revenues of the light and water system to the payment of the refunding bonds cannot be given priority over the…
    1 / 2
  • …issued to the maturity date of the bonds to be refunded. We considered a like question in City of Miami v. State, 139 Fla. 598, 191 So. 774; Fleeman v. City of Jacksonville, 140 Fla. 478, 191 So. 840; and State v. City of Miami, 142 [*8] Fla. 284, 194 So. 792. In these cases, we held that an appreciable length of time might run from the issue of the refunding bonds to the maturity of the bonds refunded. In all these cases, we were treating with periods shorter than seven months, the period involved here…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw